Old/New Testament

Asa’s Changes

15 The Spirit of God entered Azariah son of Oded. ² Azariah went to meet Asa. Azariah said, “Listen to me, Asa and all you people of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you obey the Lord, you will find him. But if you leave him, he will leave you. ³ For a long time Israel was without the true God. And they were without a priest to teach them and without the teachings. ⁴ But when they were in trouble, they turned to the Lord again. He is the God of Israel. They looked for the Lord and found him. ⁵ In those days no one could travel safely. There was much trouble in all the nations. ⁶ One nation would destroy another nation. And one city would destroy another city. This happened because God troubled them with all kinds of trouble. ⁷ But you should be strong. Don’t give up, because you will get a reward for your good work.”

⁸ Asa felt brave when he heard these words and the message from Azariah. Azariah was the son of Oded the prophet. So he removed the hated idols from all of Judah and Benjamin. And he removed them from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the Lord’s altar that was in front of the porch of the Temple of the Lord.

⁹ Then Asa gathered all the people from Judah and Benjamin. He also gathered the people of the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who were living in Judah. Many people came to Asa from Israel. They came because they saw that the Lord, Asa’s God, was with him.

¹⁰ Asa and these people gathered in Jerusalem. This was in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s rule. ¹¹ At that time they sacrificed to the Lord 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats. Asa’s army had taken these animals and other valuable things from their enemies. ¹² Then they made an agreement. They promised to obey the Lord with their whole being. He is the God their ancestors served. ¹³ Anyone who refused to obey the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be killed. It did not matter if that person was important or unimportant. It did not matter if that person was a man or woman. ¹⁴ Then Asa and the people made a promise before the Lord. They shouted with a loud voice. They also blew on trumpets and sheep’s horns. ¹⁵ All the people of Judah were happy about the promise. They had promised with all their heart. They looked for God and found him. So the Lord gave them peace in all the country.

¹⁶ King Asa also removed Maacah, his mother, from being queen mother. He did this because she had made an Asherah idol, which the Lord hated. Asa cut down that idol and smashed it into pieces. Then he burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ The places of worship to false gods were not removed from Judah. Asa desired very much to obey the Lord all his life.

¹⁸ And Asa put the holy gifts that he and his father had given into the Temple of God. These things were made of silver and gold.

¹⁹ There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s rule.

Asa’s Last Years

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s rule, Baasha king of Israel attacked Judah. He went to the town of Ramah and made it strong. He used it to keep people from going in or out of the country of Judah.

² Asa took silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord. And he took silver and gold out of his own palace. Then he sent it with messengers to Ben-Hadad king of Aram. Ben-Hadad was living in Damascus. Asa’s message said: ³ “Let’s make an agreement between you and me. Let’s make it like the agreement between your father and mine. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your agreement with Baasha king of Israel. Then he will take his army away from my country.”

⁴ Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa. So Ben-Hadad sent the commanders of his armies to attack the towns of Israel. These commanders defeated the towns of Ijon, Dan and Abel Beth Maacah. They also defeated all the towns in Naphtali where treasures were stored. ⁵ When Baasha heard about this, he stopped building Ramah. He left his work. ⁶ Then King Asa called all the men of Judah together. They went to Ramah and took away the rocks and wood that Baasha had used. And they used the rocks and wood to build up Geba and Mizpah.

⁷ At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah. Hanani said to him, “You depended on the king of Aram to help you. You did not depend on the Lord your God. So the king of Aram’s army escaped from you. ⁸ The Cushites and Libyans had a large and powerful army. They had many chariots and horsemen. But you depended on the Lord to help you. So he let you defeat them. ⁹ The Lord searches all the earth for people who have given themselves completely to him. He wants to make them strong. Asa, you did a foolish thing. From now on you will have wars.”

¹⁰ Asa was angry with Hanani the seer because of what he had said. Asa was so angry that he put Hanani in prison. Asa was cruel with some of the people at that same time.

¹¹ The things Asa did as king, from the beginning to the end, are written down. They are in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his rule, Asa got a disease in his feet. His disease was very bad. But he did not ask for help from the Lord. He only asked for help from the doctors. ¹³ Then Asa died in the forty-first year of his rule. ¹⁴ The people buried Asa in the tomb he had made for himself in Jerusalem. They laid him on a bed. It was filled with spices and different kinds of mixed perfumes. And they made a large fire to honor Asa.

²⁷ “Now I am very troubled. What should I say? Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this time’? No, I came to this time so that I could suffer. ²⁸ Father, bring glory to your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have brought glory to it, and I will do it again.”

²⁹ The crowd standing there heard the voice. They said it was thunder.

But others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

³⁰ Jesus said, “That voice was for you, not for me. ³¹ Now is the time for the world to be judged. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown down. ³² I will be lifted up from the earth. And when this happens, I will draw all people toward me.” ³³ Jesus said this to show how he would die.

³⁴ The crowd said, “We have heard from the law that the Christ will live forever. So why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵ Then Jesus said, “The light will be with you for a little longer. So walk while you have the light. Then the darkness will not catch you. He who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ So believe in the light while you still have it. Then you will become sons of light.” When Jesus had said this, he left and hid himself from them.

Some Don’t Believe in Jesus

³⁷ Though Jesus had done many miracles before the people, they still did not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to make clear the full meaning of what Isaiah the prophet said:

³⁹ This is why the people could not believe: Isaiah also said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

⁴² But many people believed in Jesus, even many of the leaders. But because of the Pharisees, they did not say that they believed in him. They were afraid that they would be put out of the synagogue. ⁴³ They loved praise from men more than praise from God.

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “He who believes in me is really believing in the One who sent me. ⁴⁵ He who sees me sees the One who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come as light into the world. I came so that whoever believes in me would not stay in darkness.

⁴⁷ “If anyone hears my words and does not obey them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who refuses to believe in me and does not accept my words. The word I have taught will be his judge on the last day. ⁴⁹ The things I taught were not from myself. The Father who sent me told me what to say and what to teach. ⁵⁰ And I know that eternal life comes from what the Father commands. So whatever I say is what the Father told me to say.”